Millions of people suffer from a weakened or damaged heart resulting in impaired cardiac output. One method for treating a weakened or damaged heart is by dynamic cardiomyoplasty. In dynamic cardiomyoplasty, a flap of a latissimus dorsi skeletal muscle is moved into the chest and wrapped around failing heart ventricles. The muscle flap is electrically stimulated in concert with the contraction of the ventricles to assist with the contraction of the heart and improve cardiac output.
The use of a skeletal muscle, such as the latissimus dorsi, is not ideal for cardiac applications because of inherent differences between skeletal muscle tissue and cardiac muscle tissue. For example, skeletal muscle tissue fatigues quickly while cardiac muscle tissue does not.